Fulfillment (Book 3 in The Temptation Series) (20 page)

***

BRYCE

I really
needed to fucking hire more staff. Ever since Alexis strolled into
my life like an angel, I had been up to my fucking neck in work.
Why? Because she was just a major distraction in every possible
kind of way, and because of that, I kept pushing my work aside just
to spend time with her. I couldn’t help it, and it was only going
to get worse, especially when the baby arrived.

I didn’t want
to spend day upon day working while the love of my life and our
happy little family spent time with each other without me. No, fuck
that. I had every intention to back off work and devote more time
to what was more important. I had worked my arse off for a long
time and I was now ready to reap the benefits.

I picked up
the phone and dialled Arthur.

“Arthur
Gordon, speaking.”

“Arthur, its
Bryce.”

“Good morning,
Bryce. What can I do for you?”

“I need to set
up a board meeting. Topic of agenda will be making you Senior Vice
President.”

Arthur cleared
his throat. “That is certainly not what I expected you to say. Can
I ask why?”

“Arthur,
Alexis is pregnant. I’m going to be a father. I need to relinquish
some of my duties and free up some time so that I can be the best
father and partner I can be. I can’t do that without your
help.”

“Oh...well...I
see. Congratulations, Bryce. Good gracious, that was quick.”

I chuckled at
my late father’s best friend—my close friend, and the only man I
had ever looked up to apart from my dad. “Thanks. It wasn’t
planned, but we are beyond thrilled. I’m going to sign over an
additional 6% stake in the company to you, giving you 15% in total.
You will hold the title of Senior Vice President, Gareth will still
remain Vice President with his 10% stake, and his duties will go
unchanged. Your duties however, will increase. If you require a
personal assistant to help with the additional work load then we
will hire one. What do you say? I don’t trust anyone else, Arthur.
Please say yes.” I waited for his answer. “Listen think about it
and—”

“No Bryce. Of
course, I’ll do it. I am honoured, thank you.”

“No. Thank
you, Arthur.”

“So, you’re
gonna be a dad. I couldn’t be happier for you, Bryce, and I know
your parents are somewhere up above, incredibly proud and smiling
down on you.”

I almost
choked at the old man’s words. I respected Arthur and looked up to
him more than he’d ever know, and his kind words and thoughts of my
parents pierced my heart in a big way. “Thanks, Arthur. I hope
you’re right. Listen, I’ve got to go. I will speak to you about the
changes in a few days, okay?”

“Of
course.”

I ended the
phone call, stood up from my desk and walked over to the window,
taking in the view of Port Phillip Bay. Would my parents be proud?
I hoped so. I’d never really given much thought to the notion that
they could be smiling down upon me. I liked that idea though. I
liked the thought that they could somehow see me and Lucy all grown
up and happy with families.

I looked at my
watch and noticed it was past 10 a. m.
Alexis, you little
sleeping beauty.
The thought of her asleep on her stomach, her
bare back visible and longing to be touched, stirred my need to go
and see her.
Fuck, the things she does to me. No wonder I am so
far behind in work.
I honestly didn’t care though. She made me
so fucking happy, all I wanted was to be around her.

A devilish
smile appeared on my face as I made my way to the apartment door,
already running ideas through my head on different ways I could
wake her.

***

I walked into
the apartment and headed for the stairs. I didn’t register the
sight before me at first, because it was so fucking terrifying that
it just couldn’t be real. But it was.

“Fuck! Geezus!
Fuck! Alexis! No!”

I ran the
fastest my fucking legs could carry me and skidded to my knees
where her crumpled body lie at the base of the steps. “Please don’t
be dead! Fuck! No!”

Adrenalin was
coursing through me, and the first thing I did was check for a
pulse. “Thank God.” She had a pulse and she was breathing. Gently,
I lifted her head and noticed blood on my hand. “Fuck!”

She made a
murmuring noise, one of pain.

“Hunny, you’re
gonna be okay. I’m going to call an ambulance.”

I grabbed my
phone and dialled 000.

“You have
dialled 000 emergency. Do you need Police, Fire and Rescue or
Ambulance?”

“Ambulance, I
need an ambulance now. My girlfriend has fallen down the stairs and
she is unconscious. She is fourteen weeks pregnant. Her head is
bleeding, and... Oh fuck, I think her leg is broken.”

I’d seen some
pretty horrific shit in my life but the angle at which her foot lay
to her leg was not normal.

“Is she
breathing?” the operator asked, in a calm voice.

“Yes. Yes, she
is breathing. My name is Bryce Clark, and I own City Towers. We are
in the penthouse. I have a helipad. Please send a chopper,
now!”

Alexis
murmured again. I gently ran my hand down the side of her face.
“It’s okay, my love, I’m right here.” I leaned over her, wanting to
pick her up in my arms and hold her to me, but I knew not to touch
her. I didn’t know if anything else was broken, she could have
fractured her spine for all I knew.

I looked over
her with a bit more detail when I noticed the blood staining her
dress in between her legs. “Oh, God. No.”

The operator
was still talking on the other end of the phone, but I couldn’t
focus on a word she was saying. I stared down at Alexis and I lost
control, taking hold of her hand and kissing it, crying and telling
her that the paramedics were coming and that she was going to be
fine. After that, it was all kind of a blur.

***

Once at the
hospital, my incoherent state of mind still remained. All I
remembered was seeing her being wheeled away from me and into the
emergency department, then feeling like my life had once again
ended.

A nurse
lightly touched my arm. “Mr. Clark?” She guided me to a seat. “I’m
so sorry that your wife is hurt.”

I didn’t
correct her mistake of Alexis’ title. To me, she was my wife; she
was my life, and as soon as it was legally possible, I was going to
marry her. We just had to get through this first. We
had
to.

“Your wife is
stable and she will be fine.”
Oh, thank fuck.
“She is on her
way to Radiology to have an x-ray of her ankle which is clearly
broken. She will also have a CT scan to check the severity of her
head injury. Now, Mr. Clark...” she placed her hand on my shoulder,
“I’m so terribly sorry to have to tell you this, but upon
examination of your wife by the paramedics, they found evidence of
an incomplete miscarriage.”

I dropped my
head into my hands, already knowing that was the case. Seeing the
blood that had stained Alexis’ dress, kind of made it
unmistakeable. It wasn’t any less painful to hear though.

The nurse—I
didn’t even know her name—gently squeezed the hand she had placed
on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry. Is there anyone I can call for
you?”

I lifted my
head. “No. That’s okay. I will call Alexis’ mum. Thank you.”

“Okay then.
There is a waiting room, just down there.” She nodded down the
corridor. “Please help yourself to a drink. I will be at the
nurse’s station if you need anything. As soon as your wife is out
of surgery I will come and let you know.”

I thanked her
again then turned and headed for the waiting room, grabbing my
phone out of my pocket. I dialled Chelsea’s number.

“Bryce, hi.
It’s so nice—”

“Chelsea. I
need you to take a chopper and fly to the co-ordinates I’m about to
send you. I need you to pick up Alexis’ family then fly them
directly to the Royal Women’s Hospital as soon as possible.”

“Is everything
okay? Are you—”

“Chelsea, can
you do that for me? Please?”

“Of course,
I—”

“Thank you.
I’ll send the co-ordinates now and the clearance to land when I
have it.”

I hung up from
Chelsea and dialled Maryann.

“Hello?”

“Maryann, it’s
Bryce.”

“Hi, Bryce. Is
everything okay?”

“No. Alexis is
in hospital. She fell down the stairs.”

“Oh my
goodness. Is she alright? Is the baby alright?”

“She has a
head injury and a broken leg. I’m not sure if anything else is
broken or the extent of her head injury.”

“Oh my God.
Um...I—”

“A friend of
mine is on her way to pick you up in a chopper and bring you here.
I’m not sure the kids should come at this stage though. I...I
really don’t know if it’s a good—”

“No, you’re
right. We won’t mention anything to the kids. Bryce, is the baby
alright?”

I paused, not
knowing if I could actually open my mouth and say the words. I had
to though, so I sucked in a deep breath and said it out loud for
the first time. “No, Maryann. The baby did not survive the
fall.”

I heard her
gasp and subdue a sob. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Oh no, my poor darling
girl.”

“Chelsea is
the pilot’s name. I’ve sent her details to land where I did at
Easter. She should be there in approximately 40 minutes.”

I hung up the
phone and stood completely still, the past hour’s events only now
just having sunk in. My adrenalin levels had also plummeted, and I
felt the sudden urge to hurl my guts. I noticed an exit sign and a
door which led outside, and without hesitation, I slammed my hands
onto the glass panels and pushed it open. I took a few steps and
vomited into the garden.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

I was almost
certain when I began to rouse, that falling down the stairs had
been a nightmare and I was simply waking up from it. I was almost
certain that the constant beeping sounds and white noises that had
been filtering in through my ears were all part of that unconscious
realm. I was also almost certain that the unpleasant aroma that had
been intermittently plaguing my sense of smell was again, part of
my dreamlike state. The thing was, I wasn’t dreaming and my brain
had only just now begun to decipher the reality that surrounded me,
decoding what was real as opposed to a delusion. The fact from
fiction became clearly apparent.

My foot was
throbbing in pain, and my head had the sudden urge to explode—that
was fact. I could hear voices and noises close by and in the
distance—fact, yet again. I could smell the unmistakable scent of
sterilizing lotion—that was also a fact. And I had a dry
scratchy-like irritation at the back of my throat, together with a
horrible metallic taste in my mouth —once again, fact.

I willed my
brain to force my eyelids open but instead my hand flinched,
grasping the hand that was placed underneath it.

“Alexis.
Alexis, it’s me, Hunny. I’m right here,” Bryce spoke, his voice
penetrating my ears, filling me with a sense of calm. “Maryann, I
think she’s trying to wake up again.”

His hand
tightened around mine.

“Jen, get the
nurse,” my mum said, her voice growing louder as she spoke.

I felt a
finger graze my cheek and it startled me, forcing my facial muscles
to twitch.

“Lexi,
Sweetheart. It’s Mum.”

My eyelids
were stubbornly refusing to open, so this time rather than willing
them, I demanded they open with everything I had in me. They obeyed
and fluttered, filtering in flickers of light and spectrums of
colour. I blinked a few times, gaining back strength and control of
my eyelids.

Almost
instantly, I saw Bryce standing to my left, an expression of mixed
emotion on his face. He looked happy and relieved, yet at the same
time exhausted and concerned. My mum was to my right, brushing hair
away from my face and smiling warmly at me.

“Is she
awake?” my sister Jen asked, as she burst into the room, which I
now confirmed was a hospital room; the cream coloured walls and
clinical equipment surrounding me a clear indication of that.

A nurse in
lilac coloured scrubs walked in after Jen, making her way over to
me with a calm and reassuring look on her face. She started
checking the monitors that were set up beside my bed. “Hello,
Alexis. My name is Stella. I’m a nurse here at the Royal Women’s
Hospital. You were brought in this morning after you fell down some
stairs and hit your head.”

I tried to
talk, but only intermittent words and noises came out of mouth.

“You might
find it a bit difficult to talk at first. You were put under
anaesthesia and intubated, so your throat may feel a little sore or
irritated.”

I nodded and
tried to speak again. “Mm...my...foot..ff...feels—”

“Yes,” she
interrupted. “Your foot will feel quite sore. When you fell you
fractured your fibula. You’ve had surgery to repair the break and
your ankle is now set in a cast.”

Nurse Stella
checked my wound dressing. I looked down at my ankle which was
slightly elevated and surrounded in a plaster cast—just looking at
it heightened the pain.

“I will go and
get you some pain killers and water, okay? I won’t be long.” She
patted my arm gently then gave Bryce a reassuring smile.

He nodded at
her then sat down on the chair next to my bed, still clasping my
hand in his. Leaning over me, he kissed my forehead, his lips
lingering on my skin for what seemed like a long time. “I love
you,” he whispered, then I heard him sob and take in a breath. The
agony in his inhalation was unmistakable.

All surface
pain that I had felt moments ago—my foot, my head, even the spot on
my hand where the IV was injected—was nothing in comparison to the
unbearable hurt I felt in my heart when I realised why he was
sobbing and why I all of sudden felt empty.